This invention relates generally to jewelry and more particularly to earrings.
Omega-back earrings are well known. Somewhat typical examples of omega-back earrings are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,907,424 and 5,165,258.
Earrings of this type include a decorative portion which is worn on the outside or front surface of the earlobe. A pin or post projects inwardly from the decorative portion of the earring and is intended to be inserted through a hole in the earlobe. A rear portion of the earring is attached to the decorative portion by a hinge at the bottom of the decorative portion. The upper end of the rear portion of the earring is in the form of a loop. When the earring is in a closed condition attached to the wearer""s ear, the loop of the rear portion of the earring presses against the back of the wearer""s earlobe and the post from the front of the earring extends through the loop.
In general, omega-back earrings represent a desirable combination of secure attachment to the wearer""s ear and relative comfort. But comfort in an earring is almost always a relative matter, and it would be highly desirable to improve even omega-back earrings from the point of view of the wearer""s comfort. It would also be desirable to reduce the cost of manufacture of omega-back earrings.
Earrings are generally sold in pairs. In many cases, the two earrings making up the pair are identical and may be interchangeably worn on either ear. However, other earring designs call for a pair of earrings in which the two earrings are not identical, but rather are mirror-images of each other, with one piece intended for wearing only on the right ear, and the other intended for wearing only on the left ear. One disadvantage of such mirror-image earring pairs, not heretofore remarked in the prior art, is that the wearer often finds, upon putting on the earrings, that she has mistakenly placed the left earring on her right ear or vice versa. It would be desirable to prevent this sort of inconvenience. It is to be recognized that this problem may be encountered in omega-back earrings and other types of earrings as well.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved omega-back earring.
It is a further object to provide an omega-back earring that is more comfortable to wear than prior art designs.
It is another object of invention to provide a method of making an omega-back earring at lower cost and with greater convenience than conventional methods.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a pair of non-identical mirror-image earrings in which the right earring can be easily distinguished from the left earring.
A first aspect of the invention provides an improvement in an pair of earrings, where one of the earrings is intended for wearing on a user""s left ear, the other of the earrings is intended for wearing on the user""s right ear, the earrings have respective ornamental surfaces for facing in a direction oriented outwardly from the ear on which the respective earring is worn, the respective ornamental surfaces are non-identical mirror-images of each other, and the improvement includes providing on one of the earrings a design feature not present on the other of the earrings, with the design feature being for distinguishing the first one of the earrings from the other one of the earrings to indicate to the user on which ear the first one of the earrings is to be worn. The design feature may be a precious or semi-precious stone located on a rear surface of the first one of the earrings, the rear surface being oriented in the direction opposite to the respective ornamental surface of the first one of the earrings. For example, the design feature may be a small ruby mounted on the rear of the front portion of the right earring.
A second aspect of the invention provides an improvement in an omega-back earring having a front portion for adorning an outward surface of a wearer""s ear and a back portion mounted by a hinge to the front portion, the front portion having a first surface for facing in a direction oriented outwardly from the wearer""s ear and a second surface for contacting the wearer""s earlobe, the front portion also having a post extending from the second surface, the post being arranged to be inserted through a hole pierced in the wearer""s earlobe, the back portion including a loop for defining an aperture through which the post is inserted when the earring is attached to the wearer""s ear in a closed condition, the loop defining a convex configuration relative to the wearer""s earlobe when the earring is attached to the wearer""s ear in a closed condition. The improvement in accordance with this aspect of the invention provides that the second surface of the front portion has a bowl-like region from which the post extends, the bowl-like region being arranged to define a concave configuration relative to the wearer""s earlobe, the concave configuration being complimentary to the convex configuration defined by the loop by the back portion, the loop of the back portion and the bowl-like region of the front portion being for engaging therebetween the wearer""s earlobe when the earring is attached to the wearer""s ear in the closed condition. The bowl-like region on the rear (second) surface of the front portion of the earring may also be employed with a rear portion loop that does not define a convex configuration.
According to a third aspect of the invention, an omega-back earring includes a front member for adorning an outward surface of a wearer""s ear, the front member having a front surface for facing in a direction oriented outwardly from the wearer""s ear, and a rear surface for contacting the wearer""s earlobe, the front member including a post extending from the rear surface for being inserted through a hole pierced in the wearer""s earlobe, the front member having a hinge portion at a lower end of the front member, the earring also including a rear member for engaging a rear surface of the wearer""s earlobe, the rear member including a loop at a upper end of the rear member, the loop being arranged to define an aperture through which the post is inserted when the earring is attached to the wearer""s ear in a closed condition, the rear member having a hinge portion at a lower end of the member, the respective hinge portions of the front and rear members cooperating to form a hinge by which the rear member is pivotable between the closed condition and open condition, the rear member being formed by investment casting as a single, unitary body, and being composed entirely of spring gold.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a hinged earring, the method including the steps of providing a front portion of the earring, forming a rear portion of the earring by investment casting from a material that includes gold, processing the rear portion of the earring to harden the rear portion so that the rear portion has characteristics of spring gold, and assembling the front portion and the processed rear portion to form the hinged earring. The processing of the rear portion of the earring preferably includes heat-treating the rear portion at a first temperature and then water quenching the rear portion, followed by heat-treating the rear portion again at a lower temperature, and then air cooling.
An earring provided in accordance with the foregoing aspects of the invention provides the following advantages:
The provision of a distinctive design element on one, but not the other, of a mirror-image pair of earrings enables the wearer to quickly and easily distinguish between the right earring and the left earring before putting on the earrings, thereby preventing the possible inconvenience of initially placing the earrings on the wrong ear. In addition, this feature, by guiding the wearer to a correct placement of the earrings, helps to assure that precious stones or other design elements, intended to be prominently displayed, actually receive the intended prominence.
In addition, the concave region provided on the rear surface of the front of the earring substantially enhances the wearer""s comfort by more appropriately distributing forces applied by the earring to the wearer""s earlobe.
Furthermore, the above-mentioned technique for forming a one-piece rear portion of an omega-back earring of spring gold reduces the cost of manufacture and assembly of omega-back earrings.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be further understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof and from the drawings, wherein like reference numerals identify like components and parts throughout.